Europe's Scariest Chart Hits Peak Scariness Levels, And Rising

Things are rather unsurprisingly going from worse to worserer in Europe. Perhaps it is the anecdotal evidence we see in the now weekly riot-cams from Spain and Greece but just as we warned over a year ago, the truly scariest chart in Europe remains that of youth unemployment. The correlation (and causation) that runs from extreme levels of youth unemployment to general social unrest and anarchy is stunning throughout time (as we noted here and here). With Greek 'youth' unemployment jumping to a disheartening 58% (for August) - by far its highest ever - and Spain rising inexorably at 54.2%, the under-25 populations in these nations is truly set to burst (with overall unemployment rates of 25.4% and 25.5% respectively). Euro-zone youth unemployment overall has risen to 23.3% and while Greece jumped the most, Italy was close behind with a 1.2ppt rise to 35.1%. We are sure the austerity voted for last night by the politicians will 'help' - someone...

When are doomer libertarians going to apologize for their shameless fear mongering about Europe and the peripheries? Despite this doomer hypothesizing, the European Union is stronger than ever and nobody cares about apocalyptic end-of-the-world predictions about Greece and Spain anymore. If need be, the European commission can simply issue Eurobonds and the ECB can monetize this debt in order to suppress interest rates and stabilize the union. Respected finance professionals and the media have totally forgotten about Europe, and are focusing on how to profit from the global recovery. Libertarians need to stop fantasizing about the apocalyptic scenarios and rejoin the rest of society.

With Greek 'youth' unemployment jumping to a disheartening 58% (for August) - by far its highest ever - and Spain rising inexorably at 54.2%, the under-25 populations in these nations is truly set to burst (with overall unemployment rates of 25.4% and 25.5% respectively).

MDB paints the picture of what the elites intend to do about the PIIGS.

Like here at the FED, the ECB intends to monetize the debts and keep kicking the can.

The amoral finance professionals and the media deliberately ignore reporting on Europe and are legitimizing the rape of the planet.

Witnessing this destruction in the society for the purpose of centralizing planning and control is everyday becoming so obvious: it just doesn't make sense. When will the people wake up and realize that which they rely upon couldn't care less about them and that their only salvation is to decentralize and take care of themselves, even if it means at a lower standard of living, such as in Greece.

You and GF make a good point: if the people cast off the parasite that is the fractional reserve system, they very well may end up with a BETTER standard of living.

One thing is sure: they would be moving forward and feeling the sense of progress as opposed to having a helpless feeling of being stuck in the mud. And nothing feeds the soul and revitalizes communities more than a sense of making progress.

It's all good, Germany is holding up well.....I wonder just what might be different between Germany and Spain.......What big Spanish companies can I think of?,,.....none...Now how about Germany? BMW, Volkswagon,Audi, Siemens, Mercedes...to many to list. I wonder why that is.?

And we see where that is getting them. I wonder how many more of their companies will get nationalized. Here is a thought..how about creating an environment friendly to investment and innovation in their own country. Similar to what we used to have.

Because Germans are just mean and haters! They are working hard just to make the rest of Europe look bad. Everyone knows in our new progressive world that the truly good, nice and smart people don't really work. It interferes with their creative thinking time. Unemployment leads to creativity and technical as well as social advancement. All these working people are stagnating the world.

One of the causes of high youth unemployment is high minimum youth wages. That prevents companies from hiring young people. And older workers don't leave the workforce so that there in no movement in the labormarket.

Yes because young working people in Europe and the US are really poor. But at least they show solidarity with their Chinese counterparts by buying the latest phones, buy Hilfiger cloths, the latest sneakers, etc. All made in China!

The whole idea that the peasantry in the US and Europe (and NZ and OZ, and Canada, etc.) is at all "poor" is bullshit. Until the peasants in the West learn their place and get back to work competing with the Chinese (et al), the Lords will simply keep their castles in the East.

The rabble has had it good for a long time, a new day is dawning and they better get used to it. The Lords are sick of this shit.

Through globalisation, the local elites around the world (whether capitalist/fascist or socialist/communist) found out they have a lot in common with eachother so they joined forces to keep the rabble at bay. The way to do this is to wipe out the middle class. That happens in the US, it happens in Europe. China does not have a sufficient middle class to begin with. If the sheeple wake up, just create some war or conflict. The times they are a changing alright.

Chinese labor is out competing the rest of the world. If American labor was more competitive (easily achieved through improved education), they would be happy to pay the producers to work. They could put it on their credit cards.

Have you ever ran a company in Europe? Minimum wage in Belgium is 20k a year. for that money, 11k goes right to the government. Plus, on everything you buy, there is a 21% value added tax (soon to go up to 25% if the socialist piece of shit president of Belgium has his way).

Now, I know China ain't great, but c'mon, there has to be a middle ground between the insane labour costs of Europe and organized slavery? Can't you at least admit that the costs of labour in Europe are a problem?

Maybe one of the reasons why the US govmint is so willing to issue mountains of student loans is simply to keep the kids off the streets. I wonder if similar demonstrations would happen here if student loans were suddenly non-existent?

Good question. Awful quiet around here all of a sudden. I say "calm before the storm" as well. Clearly this site should cheer more than most as it was the banks that lost big in this election...and yet no one wants to break out the confetti. Hmmmm. "Government Blues" here we come...

Er, politicians getting really scared about what a bunch of young men might get up to with nothing to do all day other than look for the right people to blame (so therefore need 'distracting' in case they tried to take power and/or wealth away from those who were holding it)?

Why in the fk are we torturing Greece like this? What is the real purpose here? Is it just to get their gold? They don't have that much debt and they aren't doing anything the rest of Europe is not also doing. This is just getting stupid. There has to be something else going on.

Greece - it's elected parliament for which we followed here in ZH the elections - wants to stay in the eurozone. Some 60% to 70% of the Greeks want to keep the EUR. and this means abiding to the rules of this club.

may I remember you that the Greek gov originally cheated on their numbers - thanks to the Squid - and was happily spending like a drunken sailor on what amounts to a credit card for which the others were half-liable.

on a practical side there is this problem with the CDSs and a possible PR fallout

on a strategic side there is this thing between the UK and Russia about Greece going on since the times of Lord Byron and the Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire. and the interest in Greece as a NATO partner

side remark: on a constitutional/legal side the eurozone and the EU are both clubs where any sovereign member can leave whenever it wants, or join if it conforms the parameters - as several countries are still preparing to

but the main thing is: Greece is important for europeans, on a very sentimental side. It's something like the cultural grandmother, or the crazy old aunt that nevertheless teached you how to read and write

when you set up a new confederative setup for several countries you have to allow for "the special case". hence patience with the other crazy aunt, the UK (which is still undecided and more of a drag than anything else) or for other sensibilities, including the "Greatness of France". and patience for the special needs of several others, including those who just emerged back from behind the Iron Courtain

but keen to have them stay? no. this is pure propaganda from several sources, including Rupert Murdoch's goons, the UK conservatives and libertarians, people who are looking for the next crash as a possibility to profit including several banks, lots of people who hate all things euro, etc. etc.

The Greek majority in their Parliament is keen to stay, they just showed itagain with the last vote. And as long they are keen to stay it would be shameful not to help them

of course on the side there is a lot of corrupted deals and other garbage, but this is the answer about why - on the political will side

we might call it stupid and a bad deal, but it's based on a sentiment similar to family, which also leads to many economically "stupid" moves, including feeding ungrateful brats and crazy aged aunts

Agree 100% with this. The problem is they can't afford it long term. There is no good reason for them to be tied to the same currency as Germany. It makes no economic sense for them at all, aside from a point of pure hubris.

While they are trying to be part of the big EU experiment, people are literally starving on the street while they need to devalue their economy via wage and asset deflation, and productivity increases (like we'll ever see the latter).

I understand the solidarity argument, but really, it is literally destroying the fabric of Greece.

this is the same argument against gold. the basic question is: balanced budget? Yes or No?

a lot has been written on "the big EU experiment", but funnily the eurozone is a separate club. they could leave the EUR and/or default (and still use the EUR, informally, as several small countries in europe do) and still be part of the EU

and there is the not-so-small-thing about Greek Pride (sounds nicer than hubris)

and a lot is being reported on "people literally starving on the street" but note that the Greek Parliament just voted 168 (of 300) for austerity.

propaganda about starvation or "do the elected representatives know better"?

remember that "the fabric of Greece" is a different matter from the society you encounter in any AngloSphere country, be it the US or any Commonwealth country.

Greece is a nation indipendently from the current status of their society, due to the unique culture, language and history. their common ties are different

But the problem of having a currency that is not fundamentally aligned to your economy will NEVER go away for Greece. Sure, they can deflate, but eventually there will come a time when the productivity will need to align with Germany in order for the interest rates to make economic sense for the Greek economy.

You and I may disagree, but I do not ever see that day occurring, regardless of how much they deflate, as I never see the Greeks competing head-on with Germany long term. There will always be an economic disequilibrium between Germany and Greece that will require a divergent monetary policy.

Greece is only the most obvious example, but Italy, Spain, and Portugal are in the same situation.

The US manages this situation by having a transfer union. For the last 50 years, California was subsidizing a lot of other US economic activity. I just don't see the Germans standing up for this.

As for Greek politicians, I may be cynical, but I see them as pigs at the trough, sucking up Germany's billions.

On the most basic level, we have paper money instead of gold so we can print our way out of these problems. That is the system of rules we have chosen. The human suffering being imposed here is largely sadism. This is a small problem, easily solved by printing as the system was designed to solve these problems, being enflamed to unnatural size.

It is not that I am a Keynesian. I just recognize we use monopoly money and not gold. There is no point to pretending the Euro or the USD have real value. The game has rules.

I am not sure who is more disgusting. The Greek government for not defaulting or the global banking system for not just forgiving the debt. The debt is never going to get paid. So lets end this and let Greece start over from zero.

Greece can make a bunch of promises about budget reform again, just like all the other broke dick nations on the planet. Then in 20 years they can default again. That is just the way it works when you use vapor money.

I'm not pretending that the EUR is something else than a fiat currency

but the "laws of economics", or, better, of markets make any gold backed currency a losing proposition as long as there is a fiat global reserve currency - bad money drives good money away

please remember that all USD outside America were covered by gold until 1968, one to one, one million bucks = one ton of gold

after August 1971 we all knew where this would lead - and that it would take at least twenty years to go there, particularly after the other trick with gold from 1974 (US legalization) to 1980 (spike and crash)

the primary point of the EU was and is still to prepare for a possible trade war, the secondary to provide "continental size" solutions

the primary point of the eurozone is to prepare for a possible currency war or the return of gold

and you can't have gold without balanced budgets - hence the Fiscal Compact

all defensive moves, like prepping on continental size

the Greek debt is not the issue. it's the habit of balancing the budget that is the issue. and the Greeks know this

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btw CHS was mentioning 14% of Greek tax revenues for debt service. the high water mark is 20%, no country was ever expected to pay more since very, very long

I agree that it's a disgusting situation on several sides, but don't forget that sovereigns are supposed to be the "ultimate grown-ups", and Greece does not want to default and does not want to leave the EUR Club

Actually, that is pretty much what I think is going on too. The easy cure for the entire global mess is to push gold up well over 10k an ounce, where it actually belongs, so everyone has an asset to back their crap debt. But naturally, the bankers need their gold back first, and then some.

2016 Olympics in RIO will be great fun as Team Rioting and Individual Rioting events are added and will be held in the city's slums.

Early betting has Greece winning the gold, London rioters taking silver, and Egypt's Team Arab Spring getting the bronze. Occupy Wall Street was DQd as they all moved to Colorado to smoke weed and didn't pass the drug tests.

Wait a minute. Demographic scare mongers tell us that the youth are needed to work double hard to care for the elderly. And if that isn't true can't the EU drum up a war with someone and send them all off to be slaughtered?

yep, greens and reds too, pretty darn near impossible to allocate the colours to the countries and then find/differentiate them on the chart!

the one take-away from the chartology however is the more educated (cough) the students the less likely they are to find jobs

another State turkey factory malinvesting, mis-allocating resources and no ability to match supply with demand (same as it ever was)

"Don't stop the production line, we've got no demand for the end-product but we're just going to churn them out anyway ...channel stuffing students, it's a twist on the all-the-rage new concept at General Motors!!"

The causes of all this unemployment in the 'developed world' are quite simple: Technology and relatively cheap oil and outsoucing to the developing countries. Remedies are simple enough, but are politically difficult to implement, because the gravy train for the '1%' is just too sweet to abandon.

It is becoming increasingly clear that just like the book/movie Fightclub, the banks and credit institutions all need to be brought to the ground and turned to dust. All debt needs to be wiped away and those responsible for this mess need to be hung and their property confiscated. Dismantle their empires.

This situation has occured multiple times in past. Check global employment pre-1944, also in between continental wars in europe. A vast number of untrained young men. Enter the "new" crusades, and off they go to die for God and country.